Three of the Republicans hoping to become Wyoming’s next governor answered questions at a Tuesday forum in Cheyenne that were tailored to, and delivered in front of, a largely Christian audience.
Wyoming Family Alliance, an advocacy group that emphasizes Biblical principles and Christian ideals, also hosted U.S. House and U.S. Senate candidates at the forum.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, retired Marine Col. Brent Bien, and former state House Speaker and current Sen. Eric Barlow took the stage in the packed Metropolitan in downtown Cheyenne.
Wyoming Family Alliance president Nathan Winters posed questions about parental rights and autonomy, the role of faith in governance, education, abortion and religious freedom.
The governor’s candidates displayed minor policy and philosophical differences - yet greater disparities in tone.
Bien spoke in bold tones, pulled from his past experiences in active duty in Bagdad and elsewhere, and called for Wyomingites and every level of government to wage war on evil and usher in a revival of good.
Degenfelder, assertive in tone, pointed to what she cast as her own strong Christian faith, her studies of the Bible, her Wyoming roots and work as superintendent.
Barlow, the most conversational in tone, leaned on his work in the Legislature, spoke of his faith in personal terms as a matter of daily living, and brought an edge of pragmatism to the highly idealistic debate.
On Abortion
A rare policy difference between the three candidates surfaced when Winters asked a question about whether abortion ends a human life, and whether the candidates would support any exemptions to an abortion ban.
All three candidates agreed that abortion ends a life. Degenfelder and Bien said they wouldn’t accept any exceptions.
“I can’t accept any exception when it comes to life,” said Degenfelder, adding that a Jan. 6 decision by the Wyoming Supreme Court - proclaiming that abortion is a health care right - “has gotten it wrong.”
Bien said, “I unequivocally support zero, no exceptions, all the way across the board.”
When serving in Iraq, said Bien, a 6-year-old child had been shot in the head. He and his fellow service members were trying to get the kid to Bagdad in the middle of the night, but he bled out, said Bien. He said he was pro-life before that, but, reflecting on how dependent even 6-year-olds are on their parents, he said, “something about that made me absolutely resolute.”
Barlow said in his heart, he would not want exceptions to an abortion ban- except possibly an exception to spare the life of a mother in a medical emergency. But he warned that the Legislature gets messy when crafting laws.
“I believe in life and I voted multiple times for life in the Wyoming Legislature,” he said.
Some of the many abortion bans and restrictions Wyoming has tried to pass since 2022 contained exemptions, like abortion allowances for women who’ve suffered rape or whose unborn children are a product of incest.
That’s because the Legislature is a collaboration between numerous people, Barlow said.
“Because in the legislative process, you actually have to bring people on board. You actually have to advance policy,” said Barlow.
The governor’s role on abortion policy is limited. He or she can sign, passively enact, or veto abortion legislation. But, more pivotal right now, he or she chooses the state Attorney General - who then defends Wyoming in abortion litigation from pro-choice groups.
The state has been facing - and losing - abortion lawsuits for about four years. It is taking a fresh start now under the leadership of Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz, who has said in court that his office seeks to bring evidence that a state ban on abortion is justified. It’s a high bar given the court’s broad protections of abortion, but technically not impossible under the legal definition of those protections. To overcome those protections, the government would have to show a compelling state interest for a ban, and that its ban is narrowly tailored to meet that interest.
Deciding Who Leads The University Of Wyoming
Winters asked about how a governor should approaching choosing trustees to lead the University of Wyoming.
Minor differences between candidates emerged here as well.
Degenfelder said UW should return to its rightful mission of being a land-grant university and feeding the Wyoming economy and job demands in useful and meaningful ways, rather than educating people for “women’s studies” and “careers that don’t exist.”
It’s time to find efficiencies in the university’s workings as well, she indicated.
She talked of her work to help rid the institution of diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) practices, and her own time at UW and as a member of the College Republicans.
Barlow said people ask him the UW trustee question a lot while he’s on the road.
In choosing trustees he’d emphasize finding people of character, he said.
“People who actually have a heart, and an ear for Wyoming. Who will listen to the interests and needs of… Wyoming’s people,” he continued. “And who abide by the constitution” and work well with other people.
UW is so “foundational,” he added, the Wyoming Constitution carves out its existence.
Community colleges, the K-12 school system, and industries all work in conjunction with UW as well, he said.
“UW may be a culmination for many folks,” said Barlow. “But there are many other opportunities” outside of UW as well.
Elect Them
Bien said he’d like to see UW trustees face election, rather than the governor’s appointment process - but that that would require a change to the state Constitution.
He said he graduated from UW’s college of engineering in 1991.
“Since then, things have changed a lot, and I have not been pleased,” he said. Like Degenfelder, he expressed dislike toward the more modern-social-movement degrees available and urged UW to “get back to our roots.”
He’d appoint people who understand Wyoming’s job needs, show leadership, and “understand what this state is all about,” said Bien, adding that they should also be people of sound moral judgment.
He said he’d like to strive for UW to be a top institution in the nation.
The American Library Association
Winters asked a question about a decision that falls uniquely under the purview of the Wyoming governor: whether Wyoming’s state librarian should be in league with the American Library Association.
The Montana State Library cut ties in 2023 with the American Library Association over the ALA president of the time self-identifying as a Marxist.
The group has also garnered controversy for touting and defending sexually explicit books that are marketed toward kids and youth.
Montana was the first state to break from the 147-year-old organization.
Unlike Montana, Wyoming doesn’t have a state library board, rather, a state library director under the governor’s direction.
Wyoming leaders remained noncommittal when Cowboy State Daily pressed the state library director and the governor’s office on the issue after Montana’s break from the ALA.
“My hat’s off to Montana,” said Bien at the Tuesday event. “We stop funding anything that promotes any type of hypersexualization.”
Degenfelder said that by taking ALA book suggestions in libraries and schools, Wyoming has let an organization that had been led by a Marxist determine material in them, and that that system is “broken.”
She agreed with Bien that the state shouldn’t pay dues to that group, and said state leaders should take the issue further, by equipping school boards with policy guidance, and letting parents know what problematic materials are in the libraries now.
Barlow pointed to the power of the purse.
Though the Legislature determines the state’s budget, the governor starts that process by proposing the budget, and he also can line-item veto certain provisions in the final budget.
“And then… there’s that red pen that says, nope, we’re not doing this,” he said. Certainly, he added, the governor can direct one person under his purview to do something or not do it. But the budget is a bigger tool, and “you hold (agencies) accountable to it.”
He also emphasized the need for parents’ to be involved in their children’s library access, and said he’d encourage that as governor.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
